1. Technical Field
This invention relates to weaving equipment, and more particularly to a modular warp unit for use in weaving short production runs.
2. Background Information
Throughout this application, various publications, patents and published patent applications are referred to by an identifying citation. The disclosures of the publications, patents and published patent applications referenced in this application are hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure.
A wide variety of disparate weaving apparatuses have been used in the textile industry. Modern textile factories utilize sophisticated technology to automate many aspects of the weaving process. Such automation has had the effect of greatly reducing many of the costs associated with finished fabric. However, the weaving process typically relies on relatively complex set-up procedures, in which the warp threads to be woven into the finished bolt of fabric must be wound onto a beam, and individually drawn through heddles and a reed(s) prior to commencement of weaving operations. Although this process is typically automated to some extent, it must generally be completed before weaving is commenced, i.e., prior to weaving each bolt of fabric.
The nature of these set-up operations provides a number of burdens on the textile manufacturer. Firstly, both the looms and the set-up equipment (creel, beaming machines, drawing machines) represent a substantial monetary investment. As such, it is desirable to operate them with as little downtime as possible, in order maximize the return on this capital investment. This effectively bars the dedicated use of particular set-up equipment for a particular loom, instead requiring the use of the set-up equipment to be shared among several looms. This complicates the task of scheduling the preparation and weaving operations, and in particular it increases the chances that the weaving of some particular fabric will be delayed because set-up equipment is occupied in preparing for some other piece of fabric.
Secondly, the physical movement of the warp threads in various stages of preparation (spools, beam, drawn-in beam) from one dedicated piece of equipment to another, and the warp threads' installation and removal from said equipment, are operations that are time-consuming and have been automated to a markedly more-limited extent. This aspect provides a strong incentive for loom operators to wind the beam with ever-longer warp threads, often of thousands of meters in length, to minimize the number of these secondary set-up operations that must be executed per unit of fabric woven. However, use of such long warp threads may complicate set-up, and generally militates against relatively short production runs. Furthermore, it decreases the ability of the textile manufacturer to adjust production according to new information about product demand, flaws in raw materials, or errors in weave preparation that may be available only after weaving has commenced.
Accordingly, a need exists for a loom that may be quickly and easily set-up to utilize relatively short warp threads, e.g., to facilitate short production runs with short lead-time. It is also desirable to enable the use of such short warp threads without limiting the overall length of the bolt of fabric produced thereby.